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Curcuma zanthorrhiza Roxb.

Species

Angiosperms > Zingiberales > Zingiberaceae > Curcuma

Characteristics

Plants to 2 m tall. Rhizomes few, few branched, orange or orange-red inside, paler on younger parts, short; roots with large tubers. Ligule small; petiole ca. 10 cm; leaf blade green with purple midvein, oblong, 40--80 × 15--20 cm, glabrous. Inflorescences on separate shoots arising from rhizomes; peduncle 15--25 cm; spike 16--25 × 8--10 cm; fertile bracts pale green, ca. 3 × 3.5 cm; coma bracts purple, ca. 7 × 3 cm, apical ones much narrower; bracteoles ca. 2.5 cm. Calyx white-green, ca. 1.4 cm, pubescent, apex 3-toothed. Corolla tube ca. 3.5 cm; lobes pale purple, ovate, ca. 1.7 × 1.5 cm. Lateral staminodes yellowish tinged with purple, oblong, ca. 1.7 × 1 cm. Labellum yellowish with deeply colored, median band, square, ca. 2 × 2 cm. Anther ca. 4 mm, base with spurs ca. 3 mm. Fl. Apr. 2 n = 63*.
More
A large ginger family herb. It can be 2 m high. The rhizome is large. The rhizome and tuberous roots are yellow. It forms many tillers or runners. It has robust false stems. It has sheaths near the base. The leaves are alternate and narrowly oval. They are wedge shaped at the base and extend along the leaf stalk. They are 25-100 cm long by 8-20 cm wide. The flowering shoot grows from the rhizome or underground stem beside the leaf stalk. The stalk is 10-25 cm long and 1-2 cm thick. The flowers are short and broad and they develop in a sequence along the stalk.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 2.0
Root system rhizome
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Riversides at elevations around 800 metres in southern Yunnan. Thickets and teak forest, mainly on moist, fertile, humus-rich soils, at elevations up to 750 metres.
More
A tropical plant. It needs a fertile humus rich soil and light shade. In southern China it grows beside rivers at about 800 m above sea level.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

The rhizome is grated and the meal left standing in water to dissolve the bitterness then the water is poured off and the meal eaten as pudding. The young shoots are eaten raw or cooked. The tips of the young rhizomes is eaten fresh. The flowering shoots are eaten cooked.
Uses dye food material medicinal
Edible flowers leaves rhizomes roots saps shoots stems
Therapeutic use Antirheumatic agents (tuber), Constipation (tuber), Galactogogues (tuber), Gallstones (tuber), Jaundice (tuber), Liver diseases (tuber), Malaria (tuber), Menstruation-inducing agents (tuber)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

It can be grown by division of the rhizome.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Flower

Curcuma zanthorrhiza flower picture by Dee Dee Al Farishy (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Curcuma zanthorrhiza world distribution map, present in Andorra, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Moldova (Republic of), Madagascar, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Province of China, and Viet Nam

Identifiers

LSID -
WFO ID wfo-0000366175
COL ID 32K4Q
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Curcuma zanthorrhiza
WorldFloraDB 2024